Stan Semenoff Logging Ltd’s Northland operation habitually overloaded its trucks. High Court evidence identified that some 11,700 out of 17,200 loads crossing the Northport weighbridge over a ten month period were loaded in excess of each truck’s allowable weight. The court dismissed Semenoff Logging’s appeal against additional road user charges totalling $532,800.
The company argued its own calculation of actual trips overweight should be preferred to NZ Transport Agency’s assessment. It said arrears of only $135,300 were due. NZTA polices operation of road user charges. User charges are assessed on vehicle weight and type. Heavy transport road users buy distance licences (in units of 1000 kilometres) for various weight categories. User charges are intended to meet the economic cost of damage to roads. The industry accepts weight-based evasion has been rife, with licences purchased for a lesser weight than that actually carried. Semenoff Logging challenged NZTA to find any logging operator in Northland who plays by the rules.
Semenoff Logging claimed NZTA assessment of unpaid road user charges was completely arbitrary, bearing no relation to actual distances travelled overweight. It said trucks run empty returning from Northport. NZTA’s set scale of charges takes into account that trucks will run empty for nearly half their trips, having no backload.
The Road User Charges Act requires NZTA apply an appropriate methodology for assessing unpaid road used charges. This need not be the only appropriate or even the most appropriate methodology, Justice Gordon ruled. The challenge to NZTA’s methodology failed.
Stan Semenoff Logging Ltd v. New Zealand Transport Agency – High Court (30.01.20)
20.025